When the Northeastern Lady Knights took the floor on Thursday, Nov. 14, to host the Yorktown Lady Tigers it brought back unpleasant memories. When the two teams played a year ago, Northeastern squandered a double-figure lead and lost 49-47 on a last-second shot. The Knights, who were focused from the opening tip, were looking to turn the tables.
The Knights used an aggressive defense that sped up play to offset the Tigers’ size advantage. The teams were tied at 7-7 midway through the first period before the Knights went on an 11-0 run to take an 18-7 lead and were still leading 22-11 entering the second quarter.
The two teams played nearly even in the second quarter before Ady Kircher hit a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to propel the Knights to a 31-18 halftime lead.
In the second half the Tigers concentrated on trying to slow Kircher, who scored 16 first-half points. Ava Mikesell erupted to score 12 second-half points, helping keep the Tigers at arm’s length.
Kircher finished with 18 points to lead the Knights and all game scorers, and Mikesell added 15. Olivia Jaromin and Alexis Fields each scored 8 points to lead Yorktown.
Northeastern (3-0) 22 9 16 9 56
Kircher 18, Mikesell 15, Cami Angi 8, Mackenzie Johnson 2, Karri Gammon 4, Gracie Green 2, Ariel Shuler 2, Brooklynne Adams 5 — Total 56
Yorktown (1-1) 11 7 11 8 37
Lily Sylvester 1, Olivia Conklin 5, Mabrey 4, Fields 8, Rylie Johnson 4, Mya Hargreaves 7, Jaromin 8 — Total 37
JV results: Northeastern 43 (Gracie Showalter 10), Yorktown 8
A version of this article appeared in the November 20 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.